Here is my point pure and simple. it is good that Klentak is setting up better a better analytics department. It is good that he has refocused our international program. it is good that he is increasing our presence in Latin America. It may be good that he is bringing all these new on field mangers and coaches. But at some point a GM is supposed to add on the field talent to the the group of guys who go out on the filed and play 160 games. And on that level, Klentak has been a miserable failure. The only person he has added at the MLB level is Velasquez. And it appears he may have blown that trade by insisting on Appel rather than Derek Fischer. His draft picks, other than Kingery, have been pedestrian so far. Most of the young talent we have came from Rube's last series of moves as he was being shoved out the door. Thus, while his Ivy League MBA style of management has reformed the structure of the franchise, he has shown no ability to recognize MLB talent.
Thus, to me he needs to be judged on whether he can add actual MLB level talent. His focus each year for the next several years should be to add one quality player per year to the on-field team. Machado not practical. Fine. Get Chris Archer. He's not available, then get Fullmer. Detroit not willing to trade him, The get Yelich. I just want to see Klentak demonstrate that he actually knows how to add a quality ball player to the on-field team. So far such a task seems to have been beyond his capability. I don't care who it is or what position is filled. I just think it is time to expect the GM to show he can actually improve the on field team NOW not just 8 years from now
